Warrior Exercises That Become a Dance: Kalaripayattu, Thang-Ta, Raibenshe, Natua in Today’s India

Abstract

Kinetic practices, which until recently were part of the daily internal practice of particular groups involved in martial art in India, are now coming onto the stage, have formed and continue to form a new format for their existence, concentrating on presentation to an audience – both inside the country, at various seminars and festivals, and broadly in the international arena. The traditions of Kalarippayattu, Thang-ta, Raibenshe and Natua are good examples of martial arts, whose sets of exercises that in today’s India are gradually becoming dance or stage performance. Drawing on extensive ethnographic material collected during the expeditions in 2002–2025 in India (West Bengal, Kerala and Manipur), I describe the changes that occurred in traditional martial practices in the 20th century. Each of the traditions analysed was until recently associated with a specific caste community and was practised in gymnasiums (such as the kalari of Kerala) or in the open air, with no audience intended for the application of the skills acquired. However, the change in the socio-economic picture and all the conditions of life, which became evident in the middle of the 20th century, required a transformation of the professional skills of the martial communities and the ways of their usage.